Permanently Permanent

Problem--> Which brand of permanent marker really is the most permanent?

Hypothesis--> The Sharpie marker is the less permanent marker even when using all the solvents.

Procedure-->
  1. Collect materials.
  2. Draw one inch dots on the white cloth with each of the three markers. Label the dots as what they are and this will be used as your constant.
  3. Take another cloth and dry three more dots with the markers. Spray stain release on them, scrub, and let it sit for 10min.
  4. Rinse off and record what you see from how it changed from the constant. This will be measured on a scale from 1 to 3 making 1 having the least change and 3 having the biggest change.
  5. Repeat steps 3,4, and 5 with the alcohol and vinegar.
  6. Do the procedure at least 7 more times to get your trials.

Materials-->
  1. 3 different brands of permanent markers, all black. (sharpie, EF 3000 permanent marker, Marks-A-Lot)
  2. a piece of white cloth.
  3. different solvents, Vinegar. alcohol. stain remover.



Data Tables-->
Vinegar 10min
Trial 1
trial 2
trial 3
trial 4
trial 5
trial 6
trial 7
trial 8
Sharpie
2
3
2
1
2
2
1
2
EF 3000
1
2
2
2
1
1
2
2
Marks - A- Lot
2
1
2
1
1
2
1
1
Table 1: This table has the data collected from the permanent markers being in vinegar, which shows the color change.

Averages:
Sharpie: 1.875 EF 3000: 1.625 Marks - a - lot: 1.375

Screen_shot_2012-01-05_at_8.52.56_AM.png
Figure 1: This graph is showing the average change in color in permanent markers when using vinegar as a solvent.


Alcohol 10min
Trial 1
trial 2
trial 3
trial 4
trial 5
trial 6
trial 7
trial 8
Sharpie
2
2
2
1
2
2
1
2
EF 3000
2
2
2
2
1
2
2
1
Marks - A- Lot
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
Table 2: The data shown by this table was collected when the permanent markers had a color change when using alcohol as a solvent.

Averages:
Sharpie: 1.75 EF 3000: 1.75 Marks - a - lot: 1

Screen_shot_2012-01-05_at_9.00.38_AM.png
Figure 2: This graph is showing the average change in color in permanent markers when using alcohol as a solvent.

Stain Remover 10min
Trial 1
Trial 2
trial 3
trial 4
trial 5
trial 6
trial 7
trial 8
Sharpie
2
2
2
1
2
2
1
2
EF 3000
1
2
1
1
2
1
2
1
Marks - A- Lot
1
2
2
1
1
2
1
2
Table 3: This table is showing the color change in permanent markers when using stain remover as a solvent.

Averages:
Sharpie: 1.75 EF3000: 1.375 Marks - a - lot: 1.5
Screen_shot_2012-01-05_at_9.06.18_AM.png
Figure 3: This graph is showing the color change in permanent markers when using stain remover as a solvent.

DSC_8500.JPG
Figure 4: This picture shows materials used in this experiment.
DSC_8499.JPG
Figure 5: This picture is showing the Trials being soaked with the constant on the left.
DSC_8501.JPG
Figure 6: This picture shows what the cloth looks like after they were rinsed off. The difference in color change is noticeable in this photo.

S.D. 11.16.11--> Today, I researched that the concentration of hydrochloric acid in the stomach is a pH of 1-2 due to the fact that the stomach is very acidic.

S.D. 11.16.11--> With the help of Mrs. Wilson, I attempted to get the hydrochloric acid to the correct pH needed to reenact the stomach. We started with 1000 ml of hydrochloric acid and started adding droplets of sodium hydroxide. It kept going down but then shot up to a pH of 12, which is way more then I needed.To get the pH back down between 1-2 we added a powder form of sodium hydroxide. It brought the pH back down to a 1.54pH.

S.D. 12.5.11--> Well, I changed the procedure by making the cat food, dog food. I did this because my cat is now diabetic so she can't eat the dry food anymore due to the carbohydrates in the food. We have a dog so she will just be eating the dry dog food instead of having her eat the dry cat food.

S.D. 12.6.11--> With the help of my mother, we went and got the different brands of cat food being used for the project. We decided to change it back to using cat food because even though my cat doesn't eat dry food, the barn cat does. We will just give the food to her. Plus the cat food was definitely cheaper then the dog food.

S.D. 12.7.11--> Today, I divided the hydrochloric acid in the four beakers, putting 250mL of the hydrochloric acid in each.

S.D. 12.8.11--> I began by measuring out the 150 grams of each brand of cat food. To do this I weighed the large beaker that was holding the cat food. It weighed 163.25 grams. Then I added 150 to that to get what the scale should say to have the right amount of cat food. In total, the cat food with the beaker should weigh 313.75 grams. I did that with all four brands of cat food and put them into the beakers that were then labeled with what brand was in it. Finally, I sat them aside so they can sit until checked tomorrow.

S.D. 12.9.11--> I changed the time increments to 24 hours instead of 12 hours due to the fact that I am doing this at school and wouldn't be able to get into here that late. Also added was the step in the procedure of making a mixture of meat tenderizer. When I looked at the cat food today, it turned into all mush and there isn't much to strain. The cat food completely soaked up the hydrochloric acid which is something that really shouldn't have happened. I also got help from Mrs. Wilson, who suggested I still try to go through with the experiment. I poured the meat tenderizer solution in the cat food beakers until they couldn't hold any more solution.

weight of bowl... 57.55 plus 20 77.55grams

S.D. 12.17.11--> Decided to change my project. The cat food experiment was not working out properly and I needed to do a project that actually worked. So, today, I started my new project. I worked all day and finished the alcohol and stain remover trials. They all pretty much stayed the same the entire way through the experiment.

S.D. 12.18.11--> Today I started working on the alcohol part of the experiment. It went well until my alcohol spilled so I had to redo this part.

S.D. 12.19.11--> I finished my experimental trials today. Now all that needs done is my graphs and the reports.

S.D. 12.21.11--> Today I updated my wikispace. I put all what I did on here and put my trials in the tables.

S.D. 1.5.11--> I made graphs for my averaged data and placed them on the wikispace. I did final revisions and wrote all my paragraphs for what science fair requires. I finished my science fair project.

Resources-->
  1. http://wonderopolis.org/wonder/what-makes-ink-permanent/
  2. http://www.odec.ca/projects/2008/chau8v2/info.html
  3. http://www.howtocleanstuff.net/how-to-clean-permanent-marker/
  4. http://www.brighthubeducation.com/middle-school-science-lessons/15358-how-permanent-are-permanent-markers-experiment/
  5. http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_ideas/Chem_p009.shtml
  6. http://www.elmhurst.edu/~chm/vchembook/210polarity.html
  7. http://www.sharpie.com/enus/pages/faq.aspx#Q13
  8. http://lilduckduck.com/8-ways-to-remove-permanent-marker-stains/253
  9. http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/chem07/chem07501.htm
  10. http://chemistry.about.com/od/sciencefairprojects/a/scipromiddle.htm

Abstract--> The procedure for this experiment is quite simple. You take pieces of cloth and make three dots on it, one for each marker. Use the different solvents to rub onto the cloth and then wash them off. Check back with the constant and record the data. The data shows that the sharpie marker was definitely the less permanent marker with the marks-a-lot marker being the most permanent. The conclusion came out to be the marks-a-lot marker, when being soaked in the solvents, was the most permanent marker. This experiment can be used to see what solvent will be the best to get out permanent marker. One can also expand the experiment to either use different solvents or different markers.

Experimentation--> The markers that were used in this experiment were made of pigments, which makes the markers insoluble in water and non-polar solvents. If they consisted of dyes, and not pigments, they would be soluble in water. What also keeps the permanent marker on the piece of fabric is the resin put into the marker to make it "stick". The resin in permanent markers are very non-polar. That is what allows the permanent marker to stay on the fabric without water washing it out. This is the reason this experiment was created to see what actually was the most permanent marker when using other solvents other than water. The hypothesis was made with the intention of showing that the Sharpie marker was not the most permanent marker, even though most people believe it to be. The procedure will be using the process of different brands of permanent markers getting on fabric and then attempting to be washed out using different solvents. The equipment is very simple. Just different brands of permanent markers, white cloth, and different solvents. I will be recording the change in each type of marker on a scale of 1 to 3 and putting that data into a table with different trials. When all data collection is done, it will be averaged out and graphed.

Discussion--> I found that the marks-a-lot marker is the most permanent marker and the sharpie is the least permanent marker. When looking at the data it actually surprised me that the sharpie was the least permanent marker. Everyone always uses sharpies as the best permanent marker. The data shows that when using vinegar to get the marker out, the sharpie had an average of 1.875, the EF 3000 had 1.625, and the marks-a-lot had an average of 1.375. The sharpie had an average of 1.75, as did the EF 3000. The marks-a-lot had an average of 1 when using the alcohol to remove the stains. Lastly, when using stain remover to remover the marker, the sharpie had an average of 1.75, EF 3000 had an average of 1.375, and the marks-a-lot had an average of 1.5. As you can see the sharpie had the most change with all of the solvents showing that it is the least permanent marker.
This experiment could be improved by adding more solvents to try to get rid of the permanent marker. Another way to make this experiment more in depth is by using different colored cloth and seeing if the colors affect how permanent the markers actually are. Some sources of error that could have been made is the dots that were drawn might not have matched the constant exactly so the judgement of change could have been off. Another source of error could be that not all the dots of marker got the same amount of solvent on them.
Conclusion--> The problem can be answered by saying the marks-a-lot marker is the most permanent brand of marker. My hypothesis was correct stating that the sharpie was the least permanent brand of marker. When looking at the graphs and tables, the marks-a-lot marker had the least amount of change. Seeing that all the data clearly shows the marks-a-lot marker being the most permanent marker of the three, maybe people should start using a brand other then sharpie for their permanent markings.

Applications--> This project could be used in real life by seeing what marker will actually hold up the longest even though they all say permanent. It could also be used to see which solvent will get the most permanent marker out of clothing or fabric. The studies could be taken further by making it an experiment that does see which solvent is the best for getting marker out of fabric. With that, the types of markers could be expanded to use more brands other than permanent.